The iHub at Sankalp

The iHub community got the chance to participate in the Sankalp Africa summit which ran from 21st to 22nd February, 2019.  The event has become one of the region’s leading events for social entrepreneurship and impact investing, witnesses hundreds of game changing social entrepreneurs interact with investors and ecosystem builders every year. The iHub was a proud support partner this year. We not only had community members attending, we also offered a great connectivity space for participants.

Participants had various expectations like Bonnie Chiu Founder, Lensational was excited about a deep-dive into gender lens investing moderated by a great HeForShes Amar Gokhale. Others like myself could not wait for the storytelling workshop by Barbara Börner Executive Director Börner Consult and Ms. Carola Schwank who is Head, empowering people. Network Siemens Stiftung. There was something or someone for everyone.

The iHub was well represented at the summit. Members of our leadership team, our board and our community attended. Sky.Garden an ecommerce startup that has been with the iHub almost 2 years now was there. CoFounder Daniel was up and about attending sessions and meeting investors and  expanding the startups network.

Johannes Visser who is the Founder of Samaki Kenya helps organizations grow their business and increase their impact. They work with entrepreneurs and investors to assess, develop and execute plans from a people perspective. Sankalp provided a great opportunity for him to have them all ‘under one roof’ and learn about challenges and opportunities. The iHub tent helped a lot to find a convenient place to talk. Based on a big stack of business cards, we have spent most of our time since Sankalp following up on these conversations!

Caroline Nganga an iHub member who recently got appointed to Kenya Tourism Fund was there. We spotted the top 40/40 recipient networking in high gear. Caroline runs Crafts With Meaning and was there looking for great connections for the work she is doing with local artisans. .Sankalp to her will be a must attend annually she said.

Co-founder of BRCK and founder of the iHub Erik Hersman who was in attendance.He was part of high energy opening plenary themed Accelerating Unlikely Alliances at this years Sankalp, the panel also included Siddharth Chatterjee United Nations Resident Coordinator, Kenya United Nations , Mr. Fred Swaniker Founder and CEO African Leadership University and  Anzetse Were Economist, researcher, analyst Anzetse Were Consulting

It has been a great few weeks for Erik and BRCK having recently announced acquisition of surf and later announcing open sourcing of magma. A lot of those who came by the iHub lounge were looking to connect with him to learn more about the local innovation scene.

Finally we were extremely excited to witness iHub Alumni Kwangu Kwako win this year’s Sankalp Summit award. Simon, Winnie and Symon were beaming all though the event after the win and were the most sort out participants.

The iHub lounge was a hub for connecting. Our visitors  sat down and talked business from off grid energy, investing, partnerships, medical devices, breaking down sessions to government policy. We had a full house as early as 8:30am and as late as 7pm. Our Managing Director Nekesa Were, Director of Entrepreneurship Sheilah Birgen and I were at the tent meeting delegates and sharing insight, inspiration and expanding the iHub’s networks. Our agenda to be a hub for connectivity, a catalyst for engagement during the summit was met beautifully. See you next year and Asante Salkap!